A girl who talks too much. A man who barely speaks. A beginning that already feels like trouble. Isla Bennett has always been easy to read, easy to love, and impossible to silence, drifting through life with a kind warmth. Rafe Costello is the complete opposite, a CEO built on control and silence, someone who keeps his distance because it's easier than letting anyone get close enough to matter. What begins as reluctant proximity between them, slowly turns into something neither of them can seem to stay away from. But the question is.. how does a man who trusts nothing learn to trust someone like her? And how does a girl who feels everything, handle the one person she cannot quite figure out? ------------------------------------------------------------------ He shook his head slightly. But lifted his arm anyway. She spun again, laughing louder this time, and when she looked back at him he was watching her carefully. He muttered quietly under his breath. "You're trouble." Isla blinked at him, before soon smiling with a wide grin. "I'll take that as a compliment." ------------------------------------------------------------------ -SEQUEL TO 'MR.SERIOUS'-

Levi Howard is a senior wide receiver with a reputation built on discipline, distance, and control. He knows who Genevieve Owen is-the twin sister of his quarterback and someone who has always been off-limits. Other than quick hellos at parties or games, he doesn't really know her. And he's never tried to. Genevieve Owen is a fashion design senior with an eye for detail and a confidence shaped by love and stability. Raised in a warm, close-knit family, she believes in loyalty, second chances, and showing up for the people you care about. She knows Levi as her brother's teammate and friend: popular, talented and quietly mysterious. Unlike most football players, he doesn't sleep around much-which only fuels the whispers she's heard in passing halls. Hot. Untouchable. Just impressions. Nothing more. They come from opposite worlds. Genevieve's family is everything to her-a constant source of support, comfort, and grounding. Levi comes from a wealthy but broken home, where love was replaced with distance and expectations. For him, family isn't something you're born into-it's something you earn. His football team is the only family he ever knew. They're strangers sharing the same campus-until senior year places them in the same class. And then pairs them together for the entire semester. For Levi, Genevieve is a boundary he refuses to cross. For Genevieve, Levi is a mystery she can't quite figure out-and she's always loved a challenge. It isn't love at first sight. It's restraint and curiosity. Warmth colliding with walls built for survival. Conversations that begin professionally and slowly become personal. A connection that builds quietly, deliberately, and dangerously.

Eva Graham is a guarded, no-nonsense social science major who studies human behavior to understand why people leave-and how to make sure she never lets the wrong ones in. She keeps to herself, avoids drama, and especially avoids campus athletes, whom she considers walking red flags. Cole Grayson is a third-year psychology major, a cocky ice hockey star with a grin that disarms and a fanbase full of puck bunnies. While everyone sees him coasting, Cole's under constant pressure-trying to go pro, balancing school, and keeping up a charming front to hide just how much he's cracking underneath. When Cole starts slipping in class, he's assigned a tutor: Eva. Neither is thrilled. She thinks he's a loud, lazy distraction. He calls her "Teach" just to get under her skin-she responds by calling him "Skates," with just the right amount of disdain. What begins as bickering soon turns into banter... then something softer. The nicknames stick, becoming a quiet thread that ties them together as friends-and maybe more. Cole falls first. Hard. Eva, scared of being hurt and shaped by people who've left before, fights it. Still, she agrees to go to one of his games-just once. But seeing him on the ice, in his world, adored yet somehow still alone, shifts everything. Then the bet surfaces. A stupid, careless thing made before he really knew her-and it threatens to destroy everything they've built. Surrounded by puck bunnies stirring drama, teammates with their own loyalties, and a past Eva isn't ready to share, the fragile trust between them begins to crack. Between jealousy, late-night confessions, and moments where one look says everything, Eva and Cole must decide: is love worth risking it all-even if it started with a bet, a nickname, and everything going wrong?